The invention resides in an arrangement and a method of mounting a camshaft on the cylinder head of an internal combustion engine with camshaft bearings comprising bearing seats which are formed from the cylinder head and bearing caps formed on the cylinder head cover, wherein a camshaft is mounted by at least one separate bearing cap before the cylinder head cover is mounted in place on the cylinder head.
Such an arrangement for the mounting of a camshaft on the cylinder head of an internal combustion engine and a method of mounting are known from DE 198 37 586 A1. The publication discloses a cylinder head arrangement of an internal combustion engine comprising a cylinder head, a bearing structure for supporting a camshaft by way of camshaft bearings and a cylinder head cover. The camshaft bearings include each a bearing seat and a bearing cap. The bearing seats are formed integrally with the cylinder head and the bearing caps are formed integrally with the cylinder head cover. In order to fix the camshaft on the cylinder head before the mounting of the cylinder head cover on the cylinder head, at least one separate bearing cap is provided which is mounted onto the respective bearing seat of the cylinder head whereby one camshaft bearing is completed. When the camshaft is fixed in position on the cylinder head by the separate bearing cap, the cylinder head cover can be mounted onto the cylinder head in a conventional manner, whereby, at the same time, the other camshaft bearings are completed by the bearing covers integrally formed with the cylinder head cover.
The manufacturing and assembly procedure of such an engine generally follows the following steps:
The cylinder head is prepared, the separate bearing coves are mounted onto the cylinder head and finally, the cylinder head cover is bolted onto the cylinder head. Then the camshaft bearing bore is drilled. Subsequently the cylinder head cover is again removed and the separate bearing caps are marked. The bearing caps are left on the cylinder head, which is passed on for engine assembly.
Upon engine assembly, the separate bearing caps are removed and the cylinder head is mounted onto the engine block. The camshaft is placed into the bearing seats and, for fixing the camshaft, the separate, marked bearing caps are mounted exactly as marked and are bolted down. Subsequently, the chain drive for the camshaft is installed. Then the crankshaft is rotated to check operation of the drive and finally the cylinder head cover is placed onto the assembled cylinder head and is bolted down, whereby, at the same time, the other camshaft bearings are formed. The camshaft is in that case fixed in position by the mounting of the separate bearing caps. However, the working and pairing of the separate bearing caps requires a relatively large amount of time and effort.
For general technical background information, reference is made to DE 43 24 791 A1, DE 196 03 692 A1, DE 43 23 073 A1 and DE 198 35 593 A1.
It is the object of the present invention to provide an arrangement and a method for the assembly of an internal combustion engine wherein the installation of the camshaft is simplified.